How Your Parking Provider Improves the Patient Experience
In the healthcare industry, the patient is at the center of everything you do, and their experience is a top priority. We recognize that the patient experience extends beyond the clinical appointments themselves; it encompasses every touchpoint of the healthcare journey, including parking.
Because parking interactions bookend the patient’s visit, they can set the tone for their experience or conclude it on a positive note. As a result, it’s crucial that your parking provider effectively matches the level of service patients receive within your facility.
In this post, we’ll discuss how the right parking provider can help you meet your patient experience goals by ensuring seamless arrivals and departures, providing compassionate care at every step of the patient journey, and serving as non-clinical support staff to keep patients safe.
Three Aspects of the Patient Experience Your Parking Provider Can Support
Seamless Parking for Lasting Impressions
Whether patients and visitors choose to self-park or utilize valet services, it’s important for their arrivals and departures to be as seamless as possible. Because they are often arriving in the midst of stressful situations, making sure that parking services are carried out by compassionate, understanding employees is a key component to initiating a quality patient journey.
“The parking piece is very important,” said Dr. Anthony DiGioia in the book Pursuing the Triple Aim. “Human nature is that first impressions are important, and the first person you see and deal with at the hospital many times is the parking person. It’s important because it sets the stage for the rest of the experience.”
For instance, instead of allotting extra time in their commute for finding parking spaces and making their way into the building, patients and visitors can use valet services to arrive on time. Parking at the front entrance and foregoing a long walk on the hospital grounds allows them to focus on the most important part of their visit – their healthcare journey.
The addition of controlled parking lots with attendants who regularly patrol the area also ensures a safer environment for patients, guests, and employees. This can alleviate lingering concerns they may have when leaving their vehicle for prolonged periods of time to receive treatment or care for loved ones. Offering even a small bit of reassurance during an overwhelming time can contribute to overall satisfaction with their visit and an improved patient experience.
Compassionate Care to Alleviate Patient Stress at Every Level
In his work surrounding the patient experience, Dr. DiGioia grew to consider parking attendants as caregivers, since they impact the patient experience. With this in mind, Propark Mobility considers it a top priority to train employees in compassionate care so that patients receive the same quality of service afforded to them by your clinical staff.
This extends to services and positions beyond the walls of a garage, like an ambassador or greeter at the front entrance. These uniformed staff members can immediately provide patients with a sense of comfort, serving as a resource they can easily approach with any questions.
Because these employees are highly trained and familiar with the facility, they can offer patients clear directions to assist in wayfinding or, to ease stress further, walk with those who need assistance finding their appointment.
In addition to reducing worries, ambassadors and greeters help develop patient rapport from the start. These knowledgeable employees can supplement existing volunteer staff, helping contribute to patients’ familiarity with the hospital facility and staff and, ultimately, leading to an enhanced sense of comfort.
Non-Clinical Support Staff to Help Maintain Safety Practices
To further elevate the patient experience, parking providers like Propark can supply employees to serve as non-clinical support staff for your facility.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, these support positions have included screeners. From distributing PPE and thoroughly scanning patients to providing safety instructions and directions, screeners have played a key role in pandemic-era healthcare. While crucial to safety, this role also displays to patients that their well-being is the hospital’s top priority. It adds a sense of reassurance, easing pandemic-related concerns and allowing patients to focus on their own journeys.
Propark screener services can be adapted to any hospital-specific protocols, ensuring that service is consistent throughout the patient experience. These employees can also provide additional support with registration and check-in processes to provide a seamless entry into the facility and a positive beginning to the patient experience.
Additionally, your parking provider can supply patient sitters to continue the compassionate care patients receive when they need it most. Trained in customer service, de-escalation techniques, and hospital safety protocols in case of an emergency, Propark’s patient sitters can provide non-medical. one-on-one care for at-risk patients. This can keep the nurse-to-patient ratio at a safe level, ultimately improving patient and employee safety and enhancing the patient experience.
The right parking provider can offer your patients support that extends beyond your lot or garage. With highly trained employees to supplement your hospital staff, Propark can enhance the patient experience from arrival to departure. In roles like patient sitter, greeter, and screeners – in addition to the traditional valet and parking attendants – Propark’s employees can reduce stress, create a seamless patient journey, and improve safety.
Interested in learning how Propark can enhance the patient experience at your healthcare facility? Contact us today by filling out the form below.